Upcoming Events

Natural Science Museum

An excellent activity for kids, adults, and everyone in between, the Maria Mitchell Natural Science Museum is a cross between a classic natural history museum, a zoo, and a science center. It is a great place to learn about the plants, animals, and birds of Nantucket. Visit us to learn how Nantucket came to be an island, identify currently flowering plants, and discover the six species of snakes that inhabit our island!

Exploring Life on Nantucket

Our job at the Science Museum is to document the species that live on Nantucket and provide opportunities for visitors to learn about them. The Museum’s collections are an important resource for researchers and form the backbone of the public exhibits. Our newest exhibit shows a massive aggregation of rodent bones found in a very old barn owl box.

Gift Shop and Field Gear

Binoculars and field guides are essential birding gear.

Visit the Museum gift shop to pick up educational toys and books as well as excellent binoculars, field guides, insect vials, and butterfly nets. Come to us to outfit yourself for a summer outdoors!

Natural Science Museum Exhibits

Live Animal Room

The Natural Science Museum is home to snakes, frogs, turtles, insects, and spiders. These are the stars of our popular Carnivorous Critters and Meet the Animals programs. Some animals live with us year round and visit the schools in the winter. Other animals just spend the summer with us and are then released back into the wild each fall.

Bird Displays

We have a collection of over 900 bird specimens representing most of the species seen on Nantucket. Some of these are on display in the Museum in seasonally changing exhibits that highlight interesting groups of birds or interesting behaviors.

Ocean Life

An entire room in the Museum is devoted to things found on the beach. Identify shells, bones, and other objects and learn how Nantucket is in a constant state of change.

Hands-on Activity Areas

Each week our interns come up with new activities for visitors to try out and explore. Some of the standards include Ecosystem Jenga, bird gliders, coloring, and Nano technology activities. Come test your creativity!

Natural Science Museum& Shop

Did you know?

The spring peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) is the smallest frog on Nantucket. They are gray or brown and have an ‘X’ pattern on their back. In the spring (and sometimes other times), the males call to the females in an extremely loud chorus. This serves a purpose: a predator has a hard time finding a single frog in the din. Try to find one!

Featuring

Snapping Turtle

The common snapping turtle is a large freshwater turtle of the family Chelydridae. They have been known to live up to 47 years in captivity though it is estimated that in the wild they live up to 30 years. The Snapping Turtle’s habitat can be found in aquatic environments such as rivers, lakes, ponds and small streams. They tend to walk along the bottom of the pond scavenging for food. Their diet consists of vegetation, fish, snakes, crustaceans, and carrion. Interestingly, when in water, they tend to be less aggressive and very shy. They will move away from people and other animals unless they are in search of their prey. On land, they have the opposite reputation and are infamous for their aggressive behavior and strong jaws.

Maria Mitchell Association

Maria Mitchell Association is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization whose mission is the promotion of the legacy of Maria Mitchell and exploration, education and enjoyment of Nantucket's land waters and skies beyond.